Cottage farm occupancy rule ‘no longer enforceable’

Owners of a rural cottage near Hereford have been told the agricultural occupancy tie on it can no longer be enforced.

Miss S Newcomb and Mrs W Coke had sought a certificate of lawfulness from Herefordshire Council confirming that the planning breach at 1 Warham Farm Cottage, Breinton has gone on past the ten-year threshold within which it could have been enforced.

Planning permission for the cottage was granted at appeal in 1981 on condition its occupant worked, or last worked, in farming or forestry, or was a dependant, widow or widower of such a person.

Seeking a certificate of lawfulness confirming the condition could no longer be applied, the women’s application said it had not been met since 2010, a claim backed by sworn statements from its former occupant James Mead and his colleagues at the time.

He and his wife moved out of Warham Farm Cottage in 2023 following his retirement.

Approving the certificate of lawfulness, planning officer Josh Bailey said the submitted evidence “appears to be sufficiently clear and unambiguous in confirming that the dwelling has not been occupied in accordance with the requirements of the planning condition throughout the relevant period”.

Likewise there was “no cogent information or evidence which makes the applicant’s version of events less than probable”, he concluded.